2
Preliminary Findings on Social Media Use and Accessibility: A Canadian Perspective
Jennison Asuncion, M.A. Catherine Fichten, Ph.D. Jillian Budd, D.E.C. Chris Gaulin, D.E.C.Rhonda Amsel, M.Sc.Maria Barile, M.S.W.
Adaptech Research Network, National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS), Dawson College - Montreal, McGill University, SMBD Jewish General Hospital
Presentation at the CSUN International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference, San Diego, March 26, 2010
Presentation OutlinePresentation Outline About
Adaptech Research Network National Educational Association of Disabled
Students (NEADS) NEADS e-communication: current state
Research Objectives Background Preliminary findings Next steps
More information3
Adaptech Research Network Background Adaptech Research Network Background
Based at Dawson College in Montreal since 1996 Federally and provincially (Quebec) funded Bilingual, empirical research
Accessibility and use of information and communication tech (ICT) by Canadian postsecondary students with disabilities
Persistence of college and university students with disabilities
Maintain library of free/inexpensive software4
Adaptech Research Network Background (cont’d) Cross-disability focus Team
Academics, researchers, students, consumers Partners
Postsecondary student and disability service provider groups
Methods Participatory and collaborative, qualitative
quantitative, archival
5
Adaptech Research Network Background (cont’d)
Social media use and accessibility by college and university students with disabilities in Canada
Postsecondary education experience of persons with disabilities in Canada
Technology useful to students with learning disabilities in primarily French-speaking Quebec
6
NEADS BackgroundNEADS Background In existence since 1986 Supporting access to post-secondary education
and employment for students with disabilities Consumer-based cross-disability organization Board of directors
1 representative for each of 10 provinces 1 from the territories 1 open rep
7
8
About NEADS (cont’d)About NEADS (cont’d) Membership includes
College and university students with disabilities from across Canada
Recent graduates with disabilities Professionals who provide support services
on Canadian campuses Employers
9
About NEADS (cont’d)About NEADS (cont’d) Activities include
Conducting and partnering on research (e.g., social media accessibility)
Acting as clearinghouse on financial aid and specialized funding
Supporting formation of campus-based disabled students groups/advocacy
Assisting with transition from school to work (i.e., NOWS.CA, Job Search Strategies Forums)
Holding a biannual National Conference (November 14-16, 2010, Winnipeg)
10
NEADS e-Communication: Current StateNEADS e-Communication: Current State www.neads.ca = primary external
communication channel Direct e-mails to members and others E-mail based discussion list NEADS-L stable
but stale New e-newsletter replaces hard copy version Facebook group
Still in its infancy Not leveraging it as much as we can Accessibility issues with Facebook
11
NEADS e-Communication Current State (cont’d)NEADS e-Communication Current State (cont’d)
Looking ahead Goal: leverage social media that students and
recent graduates with disabilities use toShare organizational news and pertinent
information of interest to members and non-members alike
Provide means for students and recent graduates with disabilities to communicate and network amongst themselves
Engage existing and attract new membersReach out to public at large
12
NEADS e-Communication Current State (cont’d)NEADS e-Communication Current State (cont’d) Challenge: social media NEADS uses must
be accessible and bilingual (English/French) Prefer to use existing tools rather than build
new ones to stay mainstream Social media research results to inform and
guide NEADS social media strategy
13
Social Media Study: Research ObjectivesSocial Media Study: Research Objectives Identify social media viewed as accessible and
inaccessible Pinpoint benefits, accessibility problems (and solutions)
experienced by users with different disabilities Understand the reasons why some choose to - or
cannot - use specific social media Identify what technologies and ways students / recent
graduates are connecting to the Internet Generate recommendations and promote social media
accessibility awareness to the broader postsecondary education community
14
Research BackgroundResearch Background Unlike our other research, this study was
unfunded Adaptech Research Network contributed
project management, intellectual direction and research expertise
NEADS contributed staffing (Chris Gaulin for coding) and helped with recruitment
NEADS and Research in Motion provided tokens of appreciation for research participants
Ethics approval through McGill University
15
Research Background (cont’d)Research Background (cont’d) Recruitment
E-mail discussion lists NEADS database
Participants completed an online questionnaire in Fall 2009
Pilot-tested and test-retested
16
Preliminary Findings: DemographicsPreliminary Findings: Demographics Convenience sample of 723 students/recent
graduates with disabilities 69% females 31% males
Mean age = 30 (range 16 – 65, SD = 10) Represented all 10 provinces and the Yukon
Territory
17
Disabilities/ImpairmentsDisabilities/Impairments 723 respondents self-reported 1189
disabilities/impairments from list of 15 On average, 1.5 disabilities / respondent
Top disabilities/impairments reported 32% psychological / psychiatric disability 29% learning disability 21% chronic medical / health problem 18% attention-deficit disorder (ADD / ADHD) 11% visual impairment (low vision) 10% hard of hearing / hearing impairment
In contrast: 3% totally blind, 2% Deaf
18
Specialized Software UsedSpecialized Software Used On average students used between 1 and 2
different types of specialized software Top 5 technologies reported
44% software that improves writing quality 24% software that reads what is on the screen 17% dictation software 15% scanning and optical character recognition 12% software that enlarges what is on the screen
19
Accessing the Internet: How Accessing the Internet: How On average, each student accessed the
internet 7 ways Browsers
73% Internet Explorer 60% Firefox 19% Safari
20
Accessing the Internet: How Accessing the Internet: How Laptop computer 85% VS desktop 53% Wireless internet access 72% VS high-speed
67% VS dial-up 3% Cell phone with no adaptations 48% VS with
adaptations 2% Smartphone with no adaptations 15% VS with
adaptations 2% A gaming console (e.g., Wii, Xbox) 21% Handheld / PDA device (e.g., iPod touch,
Palm Pilot, Pocket PC) 8%
Social MediaSocial Media Hours spent engaged in social media, on
average 12 hr/week non-school related activities 6 hr/week school-related activities
21
22
Social Media Activities Social Media Activities Within the past month… Based on 23 activities
91% watched a video on YouTube 79% used MSN / Windows Live Messenger,
Skype, Google Talk or another instant messaging service
79% searched for someone they knew on Facebook, MySpace, etc.
76% added someone they knew using Facebook, MySpace, etc.
23
Social Media Activities Social Media Activities Within the past month… Based on 23 activities
69% updated their status on Facebook, MySpace, etc.
61% uploaded a photo/video to Facebook, MySpace, etc.
57% read a blog
24
Social Media Activities (cont’d)Social Media Activities (cont’d) 29% listened to a podcast 24% contributed to a blog 24% read a Twitter post 21% added someone they did not know /
had never met before using Facebook, MySpace, etc.
19% participated in multiplayer online gaming
25
Social Media Activities (cont'd)Social Media Activities (cont'd) 16% used www.last.fm or similar music site 14% shared content (e.g., a link to a website)
using Digg, Delicious, or another social book marking service
12% replied to/shared someone's Twitter post 11% uploaded a video to YouTube
26
Social Media Accessibility – Most Accessible Social Media Accessibility – Most Accessible
Five most accessible based on 20 social media MSN / Windows Live Messenger Facebook YouTube Yahoo! Messenger Skype
27
Social Media Accessibility – Least Accessible Social Media Accessibility – Least Accessible
Five least accessible based on 20 social media Digg Classmates.com Disaboom SecondLife InternSHARE.com
28
Most Popular Social Media UsedMost Popular Social Media Used Top results based on 20 social media (723
respondents) 708 said Facebook 706 said YouTube 692 said MSN / Windows Live Messenger 687 said Skype 686 said MySpace 685 said GoogleTalk 685 said Flickr 682 said Twitter
29
Social Media OpinionsSocial Media Opinions Participants rated their agreement with
statements based on a 6-point scale with 1 = strongly disagree 2 = somewhat disagree 3 = slightly disagree 4 = slightly agree 5 = somewhat agree 6 = strongly agree
30
Social Media Opinions (cont'd)Social Media Opinions (cont'd) I use social media to stay connected to people I
already know 74% strongly agreed
I believe that developers of social media sites consider my needs as a person with a disability 29% strongly disagreed 24% somewhat disagreed 17% slightly disagreed
31
Social Media Opinions (cont'd)Social Media Opinions (cont'd) Social media helps me feel less isolated
33% strongly agreed 25% somewhat agreed
Accessibility is an important consideration that determines whether I use a social medium 30% strongly agreed 20% slightly agreed
32
Next StepsNext Steps Adaptech Research Network
Analyze remaining results and disseminate findings
Identify funding opportunities and partners to leverage and expand upon the research
NEADS Develop and implement a fact-based multi-
year social media strategy Leverage data to advocate for accessible
social media use in postsecondary education
33
More InformationMore Information Adaptech home page: http://www.adaptech.org NEADS home page: www.neads.ca
Jennison Asuncion [email protected] LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/jennison Twitter www.twitter.com/jennison
Catherine Fichten [email protected] LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/cfichten
Chris Gaulin [email protected] LinkedIn at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgaulin